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Tuesday, December 18, 2007

. . . AND CONFUSION ENSUED


I'm sorry I confused you with the previous entry. It crossed my mind to add an "editorial" explanation but then I forgot. My two grandmas, Ina and Nina Saunders Portfors had known each other for many years, Ina being almost a generation older than Nina. The Dobson families and the Saunders family were neighbors while farming on a ridge near Troy in the 1890s. Time goes on and eventually Ina's daughter, Pearl, marries Nina's brother, Albert. More time goes by and Ina's son, Vance, marries Nina's daughter, Dorothy, but that is yet to happen. Why are you people confused? (LOL) This picture is one of my favorites. It was taken at a Fourth of July picnic in 1933. Sitting front left is my Grandfather Charlie Portfors with Grandma Nina Portfors just behind him. My mother is next to him holding Harriet. Seated to Mother's left is Aunt Muriel Saunders German, Nina's sister. The tall lady behind Aunt Muriel is Nina's mother, Alice Mary Stinson Saunders. Alice was an experienced farm wife when Ina was having babies, and I know she looked to Alice for advice. So, Ina was naturally interested in the health of Nina's mother who was very elderly in 1934. And yes, 116 is way to skinny for Dorothy, who had just given birth (to Joni) in November 1934. Mother suffered bouts of anorexia. The photo includes other family members including Jack and Ina; Uncle Al Sanders and son Stanley; Uncle Earle and Aunt Bernice Dobson; Aunt Naomi Long and her family; etc. Pearl and Al's visit brought the two famlies together on this occasion. I believe Aunt Pearl took the picture.

2 comments:

  1. No apologies needed. I felt rather clever when I finally figured it out! Had to dig waaay back in the ol' brain. :-) I do find the interrelations intriguing though--and I have been wondering how your Mom and Dad met. Thanks to your newest blog, now I know.

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  2. To me genealogy is so dry -- just names on a tree. I love to think of these individuals as they were -- a viable part of their world. And when I hear that Grandma Nina picked up her phone in 1934 and called Ina to thank her for a Christmas card, as simple an act as that is, it makes the characters come to life. / Mother always said she had known my dad all her life.

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